


Three Four Time

by Syrum



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Blood and Gore, Dancing, Escape, Explosions, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Kissing in the Rain, Kylo plays with the Force, M/M, Mild Gore, POV Kylo Ren, Violence, about as cute as these boys get anyway, bad things happen, but still sorta cute, lots of people die, not really fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 13:38:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6053581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrum/pseuds/Syrum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a rare occurrence for Kylo Ren to be invited to anything of any importance, so naturally when he receives an invite to the largest, most prestigious event in the First Order calendar, he has no choice but to attend.  His only real wish for the evening is to dance with the General, just once.  Which, of course, means that everything goes to hell before he has chance.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Kylo let his sharp gaze follow Hux around the floor, the gentle certainty of his steps, the well-practised ease at which he was able to woo every single person he took into his arms.  It was like watching liquid, the firm inevitability of a flowing river, the precise cut of his military dress uniform seeming to accentuate the grace of his form in a way that Kylo’s never would.  If Ren was the blunt weapon of the Supreme Leader, Hux was an ornate dagger; a glimmering, unmatched beauty, but no less deadly in his own way.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Four Time

He had trained, for weeks, for that very moment. The bustle of people before him, the noise of music pervading his senses, the scent of something sweet wafting across the heat of the ballroom from some drink or other that he had not bothered to sample. The party - to which his own invitation had been extended rather grudgingly, he knew - had been going on for a couple of hours now, and perhaps longer still than that. They had been late; Hux’s fault, in part, the man simply could not put his work down unfinished. Not that the redheaded General of the First Order had particularly wanted to attend; he had far more important things to attend to, he said, yet there they both were.

Kylo had been made aware of the event only a few weeks prior, and had immediately modified his training schedule in order to be ready for it. He had approached this new challenge much as he did every one that was thrust his way; with a dogged determination and too much force. He was a blunt instrument to be used by the Supreme Leader, by the Order, and that rang true for everything he did. For something like this, though, it had perhaps made the task of learning a new skill harder, and there had not been enough time. Kylo knew, with a certain amount of dread settling in the pit of his stomach; he was not ready.

His palms itched, and he wished not for the first time for his customary gloves, and when clenching his hands into fists he could feel the slick of sweat. Wide brown eyes glanced around the room once more, taking in both faces and feelings, scanning the room for any threat and feeling nothing but revelry. His concern was likely displayed clearly across his too-expressive face, and Kylo tried to cover it with a glare, hardening his eyes to a vicious stare and he could feel the discomfort of any who stepped too close. He wished for his mask, to hide his face. He wished for his cloak, to hide the hunch of his shoulders. Instead, Kylo had been forced into formal garb that seemed to have been stitched together to fit his form precisely; too precisely, it was uncomfortable, and did not offer the range of movement that his normal outfit afforded him. His mother, had there even been the slightest chance of her seeing him in such a way, would likely have felt pride and he wasn’t certain how he felt about that.

For the most part the other attendees had avoided him since their arrival, a fact that Kylo was rather pleased with, giving the Master of the Knights of Ren a wide berth and casting suspicious, nervous eyes at his too tall form, glowering against the back wall of the large ballroom. One girl had tried to coerce him into dancing, the daughter of a senator or something equally inane. He had sent her scurrying, proverbial tail between her legs, the empathy she had felt towards him at seeing him standing alone easily shifted into a blinding fear. He didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him, that wasn’t why he was there.

Across the room, a flash of red caught his attention, and Kylo focused on it for a while. Hux had slipped easily into the role of the enigmatic General, smiling at the pretty girls who flocked to him, dancing with each in turn. They saw only the curve of lips, the flash of teeth. None noticed the cool ice of his gaze, of the expressions that could not reach his eyes because Hux would not allow it. It was false, all of it, but the man was an excellent actor and they were eating out of his hand without question. He danced and twirled, earning himself a following of both men and women who wished to be next, who were practically climbing over one another to feel the General’s hand upon their hip and be led around the floor for a few minutes by a man who was too far out of their league. They did not seem to know that, though; each mind Kylo rifled through believed they might stand a chance, to increase their status, or perhaps to simply bed the General. It would have been laughable, if it wasn’t quite so irritating.

Kylo let his sharp gaze follow Hux around the floor, the gentle certainty of his steps, the well-practised ease at which he was able to woo every single person he took into his arms. It was like watching liquid, the firm inevitability of a flowing river, the precise cut of his military dress uniform seeming to accentuate the grace of his form in a way that Kylo’s never would. If Ren was the blunt weapon of the Supreme Leader, Hux was an ornate dagger; a glimmering, unmatched beauty, but no less deadly in his own way.

There was a lull in the music and Hux’s partner finally pulled away, rather reluctantly, her attention following him for just a moment too long as he stepped away from her without so much as a second glance. The General’s eyes flickered across to meet Kylo’s, the smallest of knowing smirks gracing his features, and the knight had a feeling he had known he was being watched. Pushing away from the wall, striding through the crowd that parted for him with a thought, Kylo knew it was time. He wasn’t ready, but it was time. His knees were steady and his fingers did not tremble, but the nervousness had wedged itself into his chest and he could not will it away.

“Lord Ren.” It was a purr, an acknowledgement of his presence, and Kylo did not fight the shiver that ran down his spine. Hux’s hand found his hip, squeezing for only a moment before moving to simply rest, and Kylo moved into the man. 

“General.” He was tempted to entwine the fingers of their spare hands, yet that would not have been seen as appropriate, and while the look of surprise on the General’s face would have been worth it, the inevitable flush that would colour his own was not. So, he allowed Hux to take his hand, to lead, because it was truly the only way the evening could have gone.

Kylo’s hand had just moved to rest upon Hux’s shoulder, shifting his weight for the steps he knew were coming while his mind raced, desperately going over what he had learned and hoping he would not forget or - worse - step on Hux’s highly polished dress shoes and scuff them, when all hell broke loose.

He felt the disturbance before it occurred, a rippling of hate that washed over him with enough ferocity to make his lip curl. It was easier to dodge the first blaster bolt rather than try to stop it, the hand that was upon Hux’s shoulder sliding around to his back fast enough that the fabric might have burnt against his skin, dragging the General to his chest and around, the pulse of energy sailed harmlessly by, hitting the back of another man and sending him sprawling to the floor, dead, pinning his hapless dance partner beneath his weight. They were unarmed, as were all the guests, Kylo’s saber taken by a trembling doorman upon arrival along with Hux’s favourite blaster, locked away so that they might be marginally less inclined to murder any of the other attendees. Not that being unarmed had ever particularly stopped Kylo if he wanted someone dead, but he would have appreciated the weight of his signature cross-guard saber in his hand.

That was when the screaming started; panicked guests crushing against one another, tripping and pushing and running as they tried to flee. It was pathetic, really, how helpless they were, and Kylo paid them no heed as he swept the shooter up into the air and calmly crushed his spine. The man dropped like a stone, revellers swarming past his body, some cut down in the doorway, others shot in the back as they tried to climb out of the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows. Not that they would have survived; they were on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in the city, over two hundred stories of opulence; the drop would have been deadly, even for a Force-user.

Two more shooters dropped, then another, and Hux was still pressed to his chest, Kylo using the other guests as cover where needed so that he could focus on the rising hatred aimed at both himself and the calculating redhead in his arms. Most were dead already, they simply hadn’t realised it yet, as what had been the biggest event of the First Order calendar turned into a bloodbath.

There was an explosion somewhere below, the floor beneath their feet trembling enough that keeping purchase on the crimson stained floor became as much of a chore as picking out the individual assassins and dispatching them. They had parted enough that Hux was able to draw a wicked-looking blade from his boot, flicking it with a deft precision to bury itself in the neck of one of their attackers. The floor had begun to tilt, cracks appearing in the walls, and as Kylo used the Force to propel a severed chair leg through the skull of the single remaining assassin, the elaborate chandelier tumbled from the ceiling, missing them by a hair and shattering into shards of expensive crystal.

“Time to leave.” Kylo grunted at the General, boots sliding on the slick wash of blood and gore as he propelled himself towards the exit, noting the thud of feet as Hux followed close behind.

“I couldn’t agree more.” The redhead hummed, and when Kylo glanced around to look at him, the dark expression upon the man’s face was enough to send a thrill through him. The corridors were deserted, save the occasional body, growing fewer and fewer as they progressed. Taking one of the many elevators was entirely out of the question, with how the top portion of the building had started to lean to one side, and another explosion sounded somewhere further below, rumbling through the stairwell and dislodging plaster from the ceiling above. Frustration had started to set in; Kylo hated situations such as these, where the enemy had him at a disadvantage, where he was fighting against gravity and time rather than a physical entity that he could simply cut to ribbons.

He hated feeling weak.

Another rumble, not an explosion this time, and reaching out with the Force Kylo could feel that the whole top half of the building was entirely gone, smashed into pieces on the pavements below. A controlled demolition, this certainly was not, and a number of life forms were snuffed out as they were crushed by the falling debris. He wondered if perhaps their attackers had intended such loss of life, and resolved to find out if he managed to find any of them still alive.

The stair tread beneath his feet crumbled and Kylo pitched forward, dragging Hux with him before the entire portion of the stairwell behind them collapsed down onto the stairs below, blocking their path. He landed with his back to the wall and a slight pained hiss, Hux splayed across his chest with a look of slight surprise on his face. It was gone swiftly enough though, and through their joined hands the General managed to drag Kylo to his feet, taking the lead for a moment. 

“This way, eyes open.” Not that Kylo needed reminding, he was already more aware of their surroundings than Hux, yet the admonishment remained uncontested and Kylo could feel the General’s need to lead pulsing through him, to retake the control that had been ripped from his bloodied fingers. Their path was blocked, and they were still only around twenty or so floors closer to reaching the relative safety of the city streets. Hux pushed through the door to their right, and the lack of life in the building was jarring as Kylo reached out to ensure their way was clear. A structure of such a size should have been teeming with life, yet there was nothing. The stench of blood did not pervade so far down which could mean only one thing; the massacre had been meticulously planned, the building cleared out before hand and those who remained instructed to leave at their earliest convenience. He could not stop to dwell on it, however, the heat of Hux’s palm against his own enough of a distraction as it was. That he had not sensed the betrayal was a matter for later contemplation.

“This isn’t going to work.” Kylo growled, yanking Hux back and left, entering a large, deserted foyer. There was one on every floor, or at least there seemed to be, and it was not forefront of the knight’s thoughts to find out if he was right or not. “The building’s coming down, we need a faster route out.”

“Well if you happen to have a plan, Ren, I’d be more than happy to listen.” Hux sniped back, yanked out of the way of a falling light fitting by the knight, metal skimming across the fabric of his uniform. He seemed surprised, yet recovered swiftly, tightening his hold on Kylo’s hand without perhaps meaning to.

“I perhaps might.” There were five elevators in total on that side of the building, of the enclosed sort which suited Kylo’s purpose just fine; those that travelled on the outside of the building, exposed to the elements save for a thin sheet of rounded transparisteel, would have been entirely annihilated by that point. These, perhaps, stood a chance of surviving. He ripped open the doors one by one as they passed, glancing down the metal-lined shafts to see what lay at the bottom and how far down. The fourth provided what he needed; the elevator itself had wedged some ten or so floors below, angled inside the shaft, mechanism entirely destroyed by the early stages of building collapse.

“You cannot be serious.” Hux stared down at the twisted metal structure, then back up at Kylo, his expression one of mild distrust.

“I’ll slow your fall, you won’t be harmed.” He had aimed for reassuring, and missed the mark somewhat, a lack of practice in the majority of human emotions combined with his severe lack of healthy interaction with another person for approaching fifteen years - half of his life, in fact - dampening his ability to offer any sort of comfort. In fact, with how Hux was looking at him, he had missed the mark entirely.

“This is suicide.” There was no protest there, just a statement of what might have been fact, and Kylo knew Hux’s mind had been made up.

“Trust me.” And Hux did, or at least trusted Kylo to keep him alive more than he trusted the high-rise building to remain standing for too much longer, and with one final glance back at the knight he released Kylo’s hand and jumped.

The fall was longer than anticipated, and to his credit Hux did not close his eyes as the curling snarl of twisted metal rushed up towards him too fast. Much, much too fast, and he was going to collide with it, flesh and bone torn to shreds on the sharp curl that was aimed directly at him. He would die, he would bleed out, a crimson smear on the pavement as they cleared up the rubble that had once been the most magnificent building many had ever laid eyes upon.

Kylo caught him scant inches from the twisted wreck, smirking a little to himself at the mild panic and the jumble of thoughts rushing up at him from the now-floating General below. To catch Hux, to hold him safe, that was a simple enough thing. What he had to do next, though, was going to require further concentration. Letting his mind go blank, save for the hovering form below him and the ground beneath his feet, Kylo jumped.

His own landing was rather less delicate, and Kylo ignored whatever Hux had sniped at him, blocking him out as his boots came into contact with the elevator and he carefully lowered the General until Hux could stand by himself. Reaching around himself with the Force, feeling the very metal beneath his feet and fingertips respond, he bent it to his will. 

It curved away from the mangled walls without protest, threatening for only a moment to tip and send them hurtling down into who-knows-what before Kylo regained control, letting it slide with a grate and a grunt down into the belly of the building. Sparks were extinguished before they could reach either of them, the drop seeming to go on forever until Kylo felt something rising up to meet them, a solid and impenetrable mass. They would not be able to go around it, and going through was not an option, considering the tight space of the elevator shaft.

“This is our stop.” With some effort, Kylo stopped their descent, letting Hux climb out onto the crumbling mess of the third floor, surprised when the General reached out to pull him from the elevator shaft. There was the grind and screech of metal as what little remained of the elevator was allowed to drop, and Kylo let himself be dragged along, more drained from the impromptu exercise in control than he would have perhaps liked.

“Remind me never to listen to one of your ridiculous plans again.” Hux was still snapping at him, yet there was a strange sense of excitement pouring off the man, and Kylo found it hard not to grin at the back of that ginger head, the emotion infectious.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Kylo replied, laughter tinging his words in a way he would never have allowed under normal circumstances. In that moment, he sounded too much like his father, too much like Han Solo, and yet he was struggling to find any part of himself that cared.

“That is completely beside the point.” The stairwell was simple enough to find once more, and thankfully intact, despite the weight of an entire building baring down on it. They took the last few flights of stairs at full speed, feet barely gracing the concrete, the end in sight.

The cool evening air blasted against both of their faces as the final door caved under the weight of two bodies, releasing them from the crumbling wreck that shuddered and creaked behind them. It would not be long for this world, but nor would it take them with it when it fell, and a bubble of laughter worked its way free from Kylo’s throat, piercing the dark of night and seeming to echo. He had lost his lightsaber, Hux had lost his favourite blaster, and despite the eventual annoyance they both might feel at having to replace them, weapons could always be replaced. They had not stopped running, knew that when they did they wouldn’t be able to start again, exhaustion palpable. The wind whipped at Hux’s hair, throwing it into further disarray, a bloodied halo around the General’s head.

Kylo’s pace slowed, stuttered, panting heavily and with a grin still plastered across his face. Hux finally stopped, then, letting go of Kylo’s hand only so that he might take hold of the other one. He stumbled against the knight, drunk with euphoria, a life sparkling in his beautiful, bright eyes that Kylo had never before seen. Hux’s free arm looped around his neck, pulling him down so that he might mesh their lips together, even as Kylo’s hand slid into place on Hux’s hip. It was messy and perfect, the General’s mouth far softer than Kylo could have imagined, and he allowed himself to relax into it with a soft sigh that spoke volumes on how much he had needed that kiss.

When they finally broke apart, much too soon, they were both still panting heavily, hearts sharing the same thundering rhythm within their chests. It was then that Kylo registered the cold chill of water, the rhythmic pounding of rain upon his skin and hair, cooling and soothing in one. He watched Hux tip his head back, drinking down the rain as a child might, with a burbling laughter that would not be restrained. When he looked back at Kylo, the grin was still there, and it had travelled up, crinkling his eyes at the corner and making them sparkle like stars. A real smile, a true smile, and if Kylo hadn’t already fallen for the General before then, that open and joyful expression would have made him fall in love all over again.

“We didn’t get our dance.” If he pouted, Hux didn’t mention it, swaying slightly against the knight as the rain began to wash the mess of gore from their clothing. They were open, exposed, anyone with a powerful enough blaster or a half-decent shot with a sniper rifle would have been enough to take both of them out, but it didn’t seem to matter at that point.

“You almost sound disappointed.” There was a note of teasing to Hux’s voice, and Kylo was half tempted to take a look inside the man’s head, to see what he was thinking, bask in what he was feeling for a moment. He refrained, though, instead taking a moment to simply breathe, taking in the unkempt appearance of the man in his arms, red hair matted around his face, damped down by the rain, uniform already soaked through in the heavy downpour as droplets of water dripped in a line from the tip of his nose.

“It seems a shame for all that training to have gone to waste.” The arm around his neck tightened, and Kylo felt Hux murmur something against the corner of his mouth as their lips brushed, not quite catching the significance. He let the hand upon the General’s hip squeeze, just slightly, and they were moving then. It was messy, uncoordinated and there was no music to follow, yet somehow they moved in perfect synchronicity. The tie holding back Kylo’s hair snapped, inky black strands falling about his face, and Hux smiled at him once more, the adoration on his flushed face impossible to ignore.

Tomorrow, things would be back to the way they always were. They would be back aboard the Finalizer, as General and Knight, two individuals with no need for names or emotions or anything so weak as love as they brought the galaxy to it’s knees. For the moment, though, they were content enough to dance together in the pouring rain as the rest of the universe went to hell around them.


End file.
